“I know everything concerning you.” My voice came out gravelly and low.
She swallowed, gaze trailing up my face and over my horns before coming back down to connect with my own. I wondered what she saw, what I looked like in her eyes. A monster? I didn’t like that thought.
“Pants are more practical,” she finally said.
“Are you always practical?” I wondered what she would look like letting go, without shouldering burdens or having to learn something, just free. I itched to reach out and cut that band holding her hair back.
“Are you always so intense?” she shot back.
A smile curved my lips. “So defensive, dhysa.”
Satisfaction warmed me when curiosity lit up her gaze. “Dhysa?”
“What would be the translation?” I considered it. “Something like, ‘pretty little female.’”
Her eyebrows rose in surprise.
I lifted my arm, “come, let’s not waste time.” I was pleased when she immediately stepped to me, not wary, not hesitant. Before I took off, I leaned down and pressed my lips against the shell of her ear. She shivered, a reaction I found I liked immensely. “Wear the dress sometime.”
She gasped and latched onto me when I abruptly launched us into the air. I smiled.
With the tender bundle in my arms, I swooped down. She made a little noise in her throat and clutched me tighter, burying her face in my neck. My wings jerked as the caress of her soft breath tickled me and I worked to steady myself.
There were two close areas on the canyon floor I thought would work for what she suggested, and I took her to both. She walked around, finding examples of what she could use to explain practices and beliefs of other cultures, and she even drew pictures to show what she thought a similar plant on Earth would be. She had meticulous attention to detail and even practiced what she’d say in the intergalactic language and how she would demonstrate it for the children who couldn’t possibly understand her. I had admiration for very few, it took a lot for me to think someone was worth being viewed so highly, but as I watched her appreciation warmed my chest at how she’d adapted so quickly, thrown herself into whatever work we assigned.
We stood in an open field splattered with patches of vibrant colored flowers, surrounded by jungle foliage. Jacqueline walked to the edge of the field and studied the foliage. When she reached out, my attention snapped to the plant she was near.
“Jacqueline don’t—” I flapped my wings, propelling me toward her rapidly, but I was too late.
The plant extended its neck forward and snapped at her, catching her hand. I slashed through the thin stalk and it released her and fell to the ground. She sucked in a breath, wrenching her hand back.
“I need to remember that everything here wants to kill.” she grimaced.
The sweet smell of blood hit me. “Let me see your hand.”
She hesitated, which irritated me. I had no reason to be angry when she acted wary of me. No reason whatsoever.
When she finally gave me her hand, blood had bubbled up from a deep gash on her palm. We couldn’t have that festering. I slid out a med kit. “Sit.” I gestured at a flat rock, elevated above the ground.
She settled herself and I slid in behind her, reaching around her to grip her wrist, tilting a flask of water to rinse the cut. Her breath hitched, and I became painfully aware of my thighs cradling the curve of her hips, her back melded to my chest, her soft hair smelling sweet and nutty, tickling my jaw as I leaned over her. My cock stirred. I ignored it.
The blood that ran from the wound was a rich red, and she gritted her teeth as I washed it off. Unlike my hands, strong enough to grip and tear apart, hers were soft and fragile. Her skin was like silk.
“I’m going to put szythar paste on.” I murmured in her ear. She shivered against me and my cock throbbed in response.“It will numb the area while protecting from infection.”
“Thank you.”
I spread the grey paste onto the wound and pressed a pavyleaf onto it to seal it.
“A leaf?”
“Wait a few minutes and watch.” It would seal itself to her skin better than any synthetic bandage.
She slowly relaxed. I had a strong urge to purr as she melted into me. I froze at the impulse, and then violently shoved it down. Whatever feelings I had toward her, I needed to remember who she was. And I never purred for females. It was too intimate. It meant too many things.
“I thought of something.” Her hesitant words pulled me from my concerning thoughts. When she didn’t say anything for a long moment, I gave in to the urge to touch her and caressed her hip. My cock pulsed with desire at the contact. Her body tensed at the touch but then relaxed again and I wonderedwhat it would feel like to press against her, to have her softness conform to me. “I wonder if there were more of the Consortium officers than we knew about on the ship. They all mostly stayed in another part of the ship we didn’t have access to, so what if there were others that had their own mission when we landed?”
I stiffened at her words as a familiar flush of anger spread through me. What she said made sense. The question was, what did the second team do in my territory? When I didn’t respond, she twisted around so she could see me. My grip tightened as she attempted to move away when she saw my thunderous expression and I wrapped an arm around her waist in response, pulling her more firmly against me. I didn’t want distance between us. Her warmth and softness were comfortable. I frowned at that thought. My instinctive response to her was becoming a problem. A weakness I couldn’t have.
